Machine for handling thread



4 July 22, 1941. F. w. THOMAS.

I MACHINE FOR HANDLING THREAD Filed Oct. 6, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR FEEDER/0K (THO/7A3 I BY WMWATTORNEYS v July 22, 1941. P, w THOMAS 2,249,988

MACHINE FOR HANDLING THREAD Filed bet. 6, 1958 4 Sheets-sheaf; 2

INVENTOR FREDERICK W5 THO/1A8 JulyZZ, 1941. F. w. THOMAS MACHINE FOR HANDLIG THREAD Fild Oct. 6, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR RN NR lIlll 1 ATTORNEYS July 22,1941, F. w. THOMAS 2,249,988

MACHINE FOR HANDLING THREAD Filed Oct; 6 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 zz 76 3 8 f 6'6 r {A M 2/7 -:%.==1=- 3 Z/ a 2.9 I 17" V32? 3; Zz QT? 33 f 7 N z 4'6 '46 ,7 Z l fif- I as I W m III III f: if I97-4 I 6 J6 y j .9 l 3% INVENTOR F/PfDER/OK 14 77/0/7146 ATTORNEYS Patented July 22, 1941 STAT-ES. PATENT em 2,249,988 MACHINE FOR HANBLENG THREAD- l rederickiw. Thomas, Englewood, N. .L, assignor to The Clark Thread Company, Newark, N. 1., acci'poration offNe'w' Jersey Application October 6, 1938, Serial No. 233,588 2 Claims; CL 242-37).

This invention relates to a novel and improved. machine for handling thr'ead' the attached drawings I have shown a selected embodiment of such-a machine, and in those "drawings:

' Fig. 11s a front view'of "my novel winding machine;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the same plane as Fig.'- 1 but on a greatly enlarged scale, showing part of the structure'appearing' in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 buton a} smallerscale and showing more of the apparatus than appears in Fig. 2;

' Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through one of the winding" mechanisms taken on a -plane parallel to the plane'of Fig. 3 but on an enlarged scale; i

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the lower partof one ofthe panels; 5-

Fig. 5a. is a' View of'part of the apparatus shown in Fig. tions;

Fig. 6- is a front view of part of the right-hand part of the apparatus'showri in Fig. 1 and indicatingthe driving connectionsf Fig. 7 is a' view taken from the right of Fig. 6 approximately on thelin'e '!-'1 thereof Fig, *8 is a'view approximately onthe lines Fig. 9 is a fragmentary plan view of part of the invention may be W 'withother material" where pplicable.

"The ends 3 of sewing thread or other'material are shown'asl wound'on a'beam, in parallel relation toeach other, and the machine of this application is designed to draw all the ends from the beam and wind themintopackagesat one operaitioni The wound beam is indicated at l in Figs. 1 and 2 and the-ends 3' are-shown. as being drawn therefrom at right angles to the axis of the beam. Likewise extending generally at right angles to the axis of the beam is a machine designated generally by the numeral I3. As shown, for example, in Fig. 3, this machine comprises a bank of winding mechanisms inclined at an angle to the vertical and disposed beneath the ends Which are being drawn from the beam. One such inclined bank is shown on one side '5; but indifferent relative posi only of the machine, although it is to be understood that, if desired, a similar bank may be arranged .on the other side of the center M of the machine.

All of the winding mechanisms are preferably of similar construction and may take any desired form. Since the details of an individual winding mechanism are not necessary to an understanding of the invention, they will I not be described, such details being well known in the art. For the purposes of this application it will be sufficient to say that each mechanism may comprise a cam l6 (Fig. 4) mounted on a cam shaft I! and engaging a cam follower l8 which is secured .to a traveler IQ engaging one of the ends 3 and serving to wind it upon a core to form a package 2!. The core 13 is mounted upon an arm 22 which is spring-pressed towards a drum 23, as is known in the art. The cam I6 is adapted to cause the traveler E9 to move lengthwise of the core, and the drum 23 is mounted on a shaft 24 which is positively driven to draw the end from a source of supply to wind it upon the core, by rotating the package. Five icam shafts H are shown, each one having thereon fifty cams I6. Similarly, there are five shafts 24', each carrying fifty drums 23, one for each cam.

' 'All of the winding mechanisms are driven together from a motor 25 through any suitable driving mechanism, which is 'here shown as a belt-.26 engaging a pulley on the motor shaft and also ap-uiley on a drive shaft 21 on which is mounted a sprocket 28 engaging a chain 29 which in turn engages a sprocket St! on one of the shafts 24. All of the shafts 24 are driven in unison by means of a connecting shaft 3i which is connected to these shafts by bevel gearing, as plainly indicated in Figs. 6 and '7.

Theshafts I! are all driven in unison from the shaft 27 as by a pinion 32 on the shaft 21 and which engages a gear 33 rotatable on the shaft 34-. Alsorotatable on the shaftSA is a floating"frame 35 carrying a gear 36 which is driven by a gear 33 secured to the shaft 34. The gear-36' is secured'to a shaft 3! rotatably mounted in the frame 35, and on this shaft is also secured a gear 33 meshing with a pinion 39 which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 34, but is operatively connected to the gear 33 to rotate therewith. The shaft 35 carries a sprocket 40 over which runs a chain 4| meshing with a sprocket 42 on one of the cam shafts I! and these cam shafts are connected together by chain drives '23, as plainly shown in Figs. 6

and 7. The cam shafts are given a variable speed by means of a worm 44 which is rotated from the shaft 34 by bevel gearing 45, and this worm in turn engages a worm gear 46 on a shaft 41 having a crank arm 48 connected to a link 49 which in turn is connected to a crank arm 58 secured to the shaft 31. By this arrangement it will be seen that the worm 44 will continuously rotate the gear 48 and thus cause a planetary reciprocating movement of the frame 35 and its associated gearing around the shaft 34, thus, giving the required variable speed of rotation to the shafts H.

The driving connections just described are merely given as illustrative and are not claimed per se.

The ends coming from the beam are led through guides 5! which may be in the form of eyelets in panels 52, and these guides are arranged in groups, as best shown in Fig. 3. Assuming that there are 250 ends on the beam, as shown in the illustrated embodiment, then these ends may conveniently be separated into ten groups of 25 ends in a group. For example, the grouping may be arranged as shown, with the 25 ends in each group arranged in a horizontal line and with the ten groups arranged vertically above each other. The 25 ends in the lowest group may conveniently be led to the 25 winding mechanisms in what may be convenient-.

ly termed a section of the bank of mechanisms, this section being located at the extreme lefthand end of the bank, as viewed in Fig. 1. The next 25 ends may conveniently be led to the next section of 25 mechanisms and so on until all ends have been led to winding mechanisms, one end to each mechanism.

For the above purpose I have conveniently shown a succession of panels 52 having guides therethrough, andit will be seen that between each two successive panels, 25 ends are led to winding mechanisms through suitable guides 53 which are shown as of the pigtail variety. Of course, each successive panel 52 is ofrsmaller dimensions than the preceding one, as it has 25 fewer ends to guide to the winding mechanisms.

Adjacent the bottom of each panel is mounted a conductor rod 54 of known construction, which is best understood from Fig. 5a. The rod preferably comprises a central bar 55 separated-from two side bars 55 by means of insulation-and extending upwardly above these side bars, as plain-' ly shown. The central bar is connected tov one conductor 5? and the two side bars are connected to a conductor 58 (Fig. 3). Riding on each bar 54 is a plurality of slotted detector bars 59, each provided at the upper end of its slot with'an inclined surface 60 so that, in case it drops downwardly into contact with the bar 54 as shown in Fig. 511., it will cam over to one side and thus establish a contact between one side bar 56 and the central bar 55. It is understood that all'of the parts 55, 55; and 59 are of conducting material so that, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig.5a, an electric contact will be made. The arrangement thus forms a switch completing a circuit through the conductors 51 and 58 to any suitable control device which will stop the operation of the motor 25. Such control devices are well known in the art and may take any suitable form, and since a knowledge of their details is not necessary to an understanding of my invention, those details will not be described.

One of the bars 59 is supplied for each one of the ends 3, and a series of these bars is arranged to receive the bottom group of ends at each one of the panels 52 except the first one. At its upper end each bar 59 has'an eyelet 6|. to receive one of the ends in the bottornmost group passing through that panel. Thus if any thread in the bottom group breaks or accumulates an excess of slack therein, a switch is closed which will operate a control device to stop the motor. It will be seen thatwith the arrangement described, the breaking of any end being wound or accumulation of slack in any one of the ends will cause stopping of the motor.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in a specific form, it is to be understood that various. changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, means for supporting a beam with a multiplicity of ends wound thereon, a bank of winding mechanisms, one mechanism for each of said ends, means to separate said ends into a plurality of vertically spaced rows, panels spaced lengthwise of said bank and having guides for certain of said ends, each successive panel having guides for one less row of ends than the preceding panel, guides between each two panels to guide the ends in the bottom row at that location to a section of winding mechanisms, means to operate said'mechanisms, a tension responsive device engaging each end in said bottom row, and means arranged to cooperate with any one'of said devices to stop operation of said mechanisms.

2. In a machine of the class described, means for supporting a beam with a multiplicity of ends wound thereon, a bank of winding mechanisms, one mechanism for each of said ends, means to separate said ends into a plurality of vertically spaced rows, panels spaced lengthwise of said bank and having guides for certain of said ends,

each successive panel having guides for one less row of ends than the preceding panel, guides between each two panels to guide the ends in the bottom row at that location to a section of winding mechanisms, means to operate said mechanisms, a conductor bar extending transversely of said ends adjacent each panel and below the lowermost guides therein, a detector bar sup- 

